Chapter 78: Training (End)

The heavy iron portcullis on the far side of the subterranean arena ground upward with a deafening metallic screech.

Three massive silhouettes stepped out from the darkness of the holding vaults into the pale blue light of the mana-flambeaux. These were the automated Stone Sentinels from The Sentinel Gardens... ten-foot-tall B-Tier constructs carved from high-density granite and reinforced petrified timber. Their broad chest plates glowed with sickly green vegetative mana, and each held a three-ton petrified ironwood warhammer capable of shattering armored personnel carriers in a single blow.

Raphael stood in the center of the granite ring, thirty paces away.

Sweat still glistened on his broad, carved shoulders from his duel with the Warmaster, but his posture was completely calm, his hands resting naturally at his sides. He had resheathed his dual adamantine blades; for this trial, he intended to rely solely on his newly awakened Calamity-Tier authority.

High above on the observer balcony, Vanessa leaned against the marble railing, her violet eyes focused intensely on Raphael’s six-foot-seven frame.

"Automated targeting matrix engaged, Lord Raphael," Vanessa’s silk-like voice rang out across the amphitheater. "The sentinels are set to B-Tier Apex offensive protocol. They will strike with lethal force."

The three Stone Sentinels locked their glowing green eye-sockets onto Raphael.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

With terrifying, synchronized momentum, all three constructs lunged forward, their massive granite boots cracking the floorboards as they charged. The lead sentinel raised its three-ton petrified warhammer high above its head, bringing it down in a brutal, wind-splitting vertical smash aimed to flatten Raphael into blood and dust.

Raphael only raised his right hand, his long fingers spread wide, and spoke a single, quiet command into the silent air:

"Realm-Breaker."

BOOM!

A shockwave of pitch-black and silvery-violet spatial mana erupted from Raphael’s body in an absolute, omnidirectional wave, instantly expanding outward for a hundred meters in every direction.

The physical environment inside the subterranean arena dissolved. The blue light of the mana-flambeaux faded into a deep, celestial purple, and the air turned cold and heavy, thick with the crushing pressure of The Iron Spire’s core. The 100-meter zone was no longer bound by the physics of Earth... it was a localized projection of Raphael’s sovereign domain.

[REALM-BREAKER: MONARCH’S SPATIAL AEGIS ACTIVATED!]

- Area of Effect: 100-Meter Radius Overwrite

- Passive Applied: Absolute Weight (Sovereign Presence - 60% Reduction to Target Output)

- Active Status: Phasing Step & Spatial Armor Bypass Ready

---

The moment the domain overwrite snapped into place, the three charging Stone Sentinels hit an invisible wall of pure gravitational and spatial weight.

CRUNCH!

The lead sentinel’s heavy downward swing froze mid-air, thirty feet above Raphael’s head. The massive construct’s granite joints groaned under tremendous strain as a force equivalent to ten atmospheres slammed directly onto its shoulders.

The three-ton petrified hammer slipped from its stone grip, crashing onto the floor with a dull, muffled thud, unable to shatter the space-reinforced stone.

The two flank sentinels stumbled, their legs buckling violently as their glowing green eyes flickered erratically. Their movement speed dropped by sixty percent instantly, their stone knees slamming into the concrete with enough force to splinter their own armor joints under the sudden, suffocating weight of Raphael’s presence.

Raphael stood in the absolute center of the domain, completely unaffected by the crushing force.

"Incredible," Raphael murmured, his deep voice carrying an echo of spatial resonance. He didn’t need to exert physical effort to keep them suppressed. The domain itself was doing the work, forcing every entity within its boundary to acknowledge the absolute hierarchy of its master. Raphael looked at the lead sentinel, which was struggling to lift its head ten feet away.

ZIP.

Without casting a spell or flexing a muscle, Raphael executed Phasing Step.

His towering frame vanished from the center of the ring and instantly materialized directly in front of the lead sentinel’s chest plate, stepping seamlessly through a microscopic tear in space without a single millisecond of delay or mana ripple.

Before the construct could react, Raphael thrust his bare right palm straight into the center of its reinforced granite chest plate, targeting the glowing B-Tier Heartwood Core within.

Thanks to the domain’s Spatial Armor Bypass, his hand didn’t collide with the stone. His gauntleted palm passed seamlessly through the three-foot-thick stone chest plate as if it were warm water, reaching directly into the inner cavity. Raphael’s fingers wrapped firmly around the glowing green core.

CRACK.

He pulled his hand back.

The B-Tier core came cleanly out of the construct’s chest without leaving a single scratch on its outer granite shell. The moment the core was removed, the ten-foot Stone Sentinel lost its mana feed, its green eyes going dark as its massive stone frame collapsed forward into a lifeless pile of rock.

The remaining two sentinels let out grinding metallic screeches, trying desperately to raise their petrified weapons under the suffocating spatial weight.

Raphael turned toward them, his silver eyes flashing with absolute, terrifying dominance. He executed two rapid Phasing Steps, appearing behind both constructs in the blink of an eye. With two precise, bare-handed thrusts using his Spatial Armor Bypass, he extracted both remaining cores in less than two seconds.

THUD! THUD!

All three B-Tier constructs lay deactivated on the arena floor, completely dismantled without Raphael ever drawing a sword or taking a single point of damage.

Raphael closed his right hand, letting the three harvested green cores transfer directly into his spatial storage vault. He took a deep breath and released his hold on the spatial domain. The cores will be transferred automatically to remake the sentinels, so he didn’t need to worry.

WSHHH.

The purple void atmosphere dissolved, and the quiet blue light of the mana-flambeaux returned to the subterranean arena.

High above on the balcony, Vanessa stared down at the empty floor, her hands gripping her staff so tightly her knuckles were white.

"Absolute spatial dominance," Vanessa whispered, her silk-like voice trembling with awe. "An entire B-Tier Apex squad dismantled in seconds... without a single weapon drawn."

Raphael looked down at his unblemished palms, feeling the smooth, effortless flow of spatial mana returning to his core.

"The domain overwrite is flawless," Raphael said, looking up at Vanessa. "Now that the indoor trials are complete, it’s time to test Realm-Breaker in the wild."

His silver eyes turned toward the high windows overlooking the dark, uncharted expanse of the Sky-Shattered Vault.